Dr. Haggray issued the following statement from the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, a central portion of the ABCUSA structure. Perhaps this is the result of having a new pope who hails from Puerto Rico, or maybe this would have happened anyway. It may have repercussions in terms of the strength of ABC in areas like Indiana and West Virginia, will be interesting to watch.

All the alarm bells are sounding. The United States of America, under the presidency of Donald J. Trump, has recklessly entered into dangerously deep moral territory by its mean-spirited neglect and maltreatment of our most vulnerable citizens. The public statements, tweets, policy decisions and executive orders from the Trump administration endanger the health and well-being not only of millions of Americans, but also that of countless millions of the world’s inhabitants.

The list of evil overtures and actions from President Trump is too long to delineate here, but it surely includes: his refusal to fund healthcare subsidies for the poor; his public statements against the Affordable Healthcare Act designed to undermine and sabotage the program since he can’t single-handedly eliminate it; his mean-spirited insults of Hurricane Maria’s victims in Puerto Rico; his refusal to extend DACA to protect childhood immigrants (also known as Dreamers); his vile and profane threats against Americans—such as NFL players and journalists—exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and a free press; his vigilant efforts to extend huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of public programs that protect the welfare of all Americans; and his irresponsible war-mongering statements against North Korea and Iran that threaten harm to the entire planet. The list goes on ad nauseam—and that’s without mentioning the deplorable policies emanating from the heads of the Justice Department, Education Department, Environmental Protection Agency and others.

Although Trump enjoys unfailing allegiance from self-described “right-wing evangelicals,” the fact remains that there is no justification in Jesus’ teachings for their political support of this president.

I thought about opening this reflection with a Scripture text as a foundation for my comments, but so many relevant passages came to mind from Genesis to Revelation that no one text did justice to the political predicament in our country today. Nevertheless, this serves the purpose well: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Throughout the Holy Bible, maltreatment of poor and vulnerable people is regarded as sin; there is no disputing that biblical fact. Moreover, God consistently reserves the harshest judgments and punishments for human leaders whose job it is to protect the poor.

Trump’s moral depravity with respect to concern for the poor threatens the well-being of each of us if we refuse to hold his administration morally and politically accountable to do the right thing by promoting policies and actions that care for the most vulnerable and voiceless among us.Dr. Jeffrey Haggray Director of Public Witness and AdvocacyAmerican Baptist Home Mission Societies

Haruo wrote:Dr. Haggray issued the following statement from the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, a central portion of the ABCUSA structure. Perhaps this is the result of having a new pope who hails from Puerto Rico, or maybe this would have happened anyway. It may have repercussions in terms of the strength of ABC in areas like Indiana and West Virginia, will be interesting to watch.

All the alarm bells are sounding. The United States of America, under the presidency of Donald J. Trump, has recklessly entered into dangerously deep moral territory by its mean-spirited neglect and maltreatment of our most vulnerable citizens. The public statements, tweets, policy decisions and executive orders from the Trump administration endanger the health and well-being not only of millions of Americans, but also that of countless millions of the world’s inhabitants.

The list of evil overtures and actions from President Trump is too long to delineate here, but it surely includes: his refusal to fund healthcare subsidies for the poor; his public statements against the Affordable Healthcare Act designed to undermine and sabotage the program since he can’t single-handedly eliminate it; his mean-spirited insults of Hurricane Maria’s victims in Puerto Rico; his refusal to extend DACA to protect childhood immigrants (also known as Dreamers); his vile and profane threats against Americans—such as NFL players and journalists—exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and a free press; his vigilant efforts to extend huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of public programs that protect the welfare of all Americans; and his irresponsible war-mongering statements against North Korea and Iran that threaten harm to the entire planet. The list goes on ad nauseam—and that’s without mentioning the deplorable policies emanating from the heads of the Justice Department, Education Department, Environmental Protection Agency and others.

Although Trump enjoys unfailing allegiance from self-described “right-wing evangelicals,” the fact remains that there is no justification in Jesus’ teachings for their political support of this president.

I thought about opening this reflection with a Scripture text as a foundation for my comments, but so many relevant passages came to mind from Genesis to Revelation that no one text did justice to the political predicament in our country today. Nevertheless, this serves the purpose well: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Throughout the Holy Bible, maltreatment of poor and vulnerable people is regarded as sin; there is no disputing that biblical fact. Moreover, God consistently reserves the harshest judgments and punishments for human leaders whose job it is to protect the poor.

Trump’s moral depravity with respect to concern for the poor threatens the well-being of each of us if we refuse to hold his administration morally and politically accountable to do the right thing by promoting policies and actions that care for the most vulnerable and voiceless among us.Dr. Jeffrey Haggray Director of Public Witness and AdvocacyAmerican Baptist Home Mission Societies

Haruo wrote:When I said "new pope" I meant the new Genl Secy of ABC, not the Catholic one. VF, not VA.

Did you mean to add a comment, or simply to repost my own, Ed?

Thank you Hauro, I meant to back out of the discussion to give attention to another more pressing issue and apparently hit the submit button instead of the save draft button, in error. I was going to ask you to refresh my memory as to why you referred to Dr. Spitzer as hailing from Puerto Rico. If I had known that, it has escaped my aging synapses. I am aware of his being an ethnic Jew but any connection to PR simply does not resonate for me.